Schooling
by 123laura3215
Summary: Because there is NEVER enough Keeler/Encke! Sorry they're realllly OOC, but seeing as there is as much information on them as there is life on Mars, I'm gonna take the liberty to not worry too much.
1. Chapter 1

_James - Encke _

_Chris – Keeler_

_I don't know who came up with the name James for Encke, but I hope it's okay that I borrow it! ^_^_

_James had been dreading this day. New school. Not just a new school, a new school he'd won a goddamn scholarship to – against his will – and had been forced – again, against his will – to attend. Not that he had a choice. So now he was stuck on earth with only an adopted aunt appointed by the government as family and some fancy rich kids in some fancy rich kids school with not a fucking clue what he was doing there and just wanting to grow the fuck up already so he could join the alliance and blown the colterons up so he could go back home without living in fear._

_Not that earth was so terrible. The sunlight actually being warm was a novelty he'd never get tired of, and the aunt he'd been appointed was pretty nice. A bit weird, but nice enough. Sat through all of James's nightmares the month leading up to starting at the school. But actually being there – actually standing at the gates and saying goodbye to the only earth person he knew had James in a panic, biting back tears and wishing he was 5 again instead of 16 so he could cry without getting weird looks._

_"Go on James, off you go. You'll be okay, just be yourself. I'll see you at Christmas!" The aunt gave him a hug, then pushed him forwards into the grounds, smiling and waving at him encouragingly when James turned around to look back, another face in the crowd of parents saying goodbye, the only difference being that all the other parents were there for their kids, while James's were off a million miles away. He hugged his arms to himself, turning to face the entrance doors which stood taller than he could ever hope to grow, and older than he ever planned to be and stepped inside._

_After a day, James was desperate to get out._

_After a week, his thoughts were dominated by ways to burn the place down. _

_The classes sucked, the kids were rich snobs and they all hated him, all looked down their noses at him like he was some dirt on their shoes that needed to be rubbed off. The only thing that kept him going was two more years, just two more years and he could go home and never return. In the meantime, he'd try to keep his head down and get himself an education like he was supposed to, assuming education meant teachers so old and droning that falling into any form of unconciousness in their presence was a gift, and kids so mean they made the colteron's look like a bunch of fluffy bunnies._

_One group of them in particular had it out for him, and James would've kept an eye out for them except everyone here was blonde and they all looked the same, so when they cornered him again at first he wasn't sure who they were._

_"What's up, faggot?"_

_Their leader was a particularly violent and nasty one, who really seemed to ____hate __James for existing._

_"So, you never answered my question. Just how many dicks did you have to suck to get __your fancy scholarship, eh?"_

_He leered at James, right up in his face, his gang egging him on, getting on the jeering bandwagon and calling James unintelligible names - they never said shit about this in the fucking brochures._

_And he would've punched them back, except that would only get him wound up in detention so what was the point?_

_"Ah, well – heh – maybe it wasn't you. Bet your mum has a pretty mouth like you."_

_Fuck that. James was about to swing his fist when out of nowhere a hand caught it, and attached to that hand was an arm attached to a body attached to a face and a swinging blonde braid. A strange boy appeared out of nowhere, glanced sideways at James to give him a wink then turned to speak to the nasties in front of him._

_"Now now, boys, we all know that I do all the cock sucking around here," at that he threw another wink at James, "and I've gotta say, Melville, your dad really needs to wash his more often. Got a bad smell going on down there."_

_James spluttered just as badly as Melville (stupid name) at that, disbelieving that this braid swinging blonde could be so brave when he was so tiny, an easy target for a beating. Or maybe stupid was a better word for it._

_Then he turned to James and kissed him, full on the mouth, before breaking apart and flipping up his middle finger at the others, "catch you later sweeties!" and pulling James along, running straight through the other boys who stood there dumbfounded, too slow to react._

_They kept running until they made it outside, and the strange boy pulled him around a corner, chest heaving for breath while intermittently laughing and trying to stifle the sound. James found himself making weird noises, and at first he thought he was choking on something but then came to the understand he was choking on his ____own__ laughter._

_The other boy turned to him, eyes twinkling and held out his hand, struggling not to swallow air, half choking, half laughing out the word._

_"Chris"_

_James stared at the hand as his own enveloped it, small and fragile like a sparrow, shaking it gently so as to not break it accidentally._

_"James."_

_Chris grinned at him, pushing loose hair out of his face, so pale it caught the sunlight's gold light. His smile was easy, and James found himself wanting to smile back. So he did. Felt weird after a solid month of frowning._

_"Welcome to hell, James. You might wanna work on that smile."_


	2. Chapter 2

_James - Encke _

_Chris – Keeler_

_Ned – Ethos (in my head he's a sweet talking little upstart)_

There are a few rules at boarding school that are apart of the secret code of the student body, and one of them is do not fall for the only friend you make, because when it ends it ends badly. After a month James had failed to follow that particular rule completely. Not that he meant to, but he couldn't help himself. Chris was a hurricane that pulled you along dizzyingly fast before you knew you'd been taken, a rollercoaster ride that was both exciting and terrifying and kept you gripping the edge of your seat; not because you were afraid of falling off but because you didn't want to let go.

They walked into history class to sit in their respective chairs, and a person in front turned around in his seat to grin at Chris.

"Dude, cut your fuckin' hair, you look like a little girl."

"Ned! Hey, when'd you get back!?"

"Last night, boy I tell you, Moon's one heck of a place to vacation. Rocks, rocks and more rocks, real good if you're a geologist, sucks if you want to have fun."

Ned nodded with his chin over at James, "Who's this?"

Chris reached over to brush James's shoulder of invisible dirt, blinking prettily.

"This is James, he's a filthy colonial and we're not supposed to talk to him."

"I dunno Chris, he's a rather fine specimen, I don't think I'd mind the filth he has on offer." Ned cocked his head to the side, like a scrutinising puppy. "Does everyone in the colonies look like you?"

James stared at him wide eyed before realising he was being addressed.

"Um... no?"

"Shame. So, do either of you understand what the fuck that english paper is about?"

"I think it has something to do with societies rejection of something or rather. You know, in my last essay I wrote a page in the middle on the inefficiency of coconut bras, and I got 90%? The bastard didn't even read it."

"Or maybe he did read it, and the subject matter was why you got the mark?"

"Touche, my friend, touche."

Chris didn't really have many friends at the school, which was fine with James as he'd never been good with conversation. Most of the time he just let Chris chatter away about things that made no sense, well, probably made perfect sense but James was too busy watching his hand movements when he got excited about something, watch the way he sprawled all his sheets of homework across three desks and did them all at once instead of one at a time, redefining the meaning of the words efficient and chaos at the same time.

Not that efficient meant correct. Half the time he got the answers wrong, but just laughed it off and somehow managed to pull through each test with top marks while James struggled over each sheet, meticulously checking and double checking his answers, studying late into the night. Make your parents proud make them proud make them proud, proud, proud. Show them all you're not just some colony lowlife.

In the front, the History teacher – what was her name again? - had already set up class and was speaking about something or rather, at which James decided it was time to pay attention to what was being taught.

"...the Colterons attacked colony 8 in 2066-"

When he spoke out it was a knee jerk reaction, automatic response to a wrong answer.

"It was '67"

"Excuse me?"

James blinked, not realising he'd spoken aloud. Chris nudged his shoulder, forcing another response out.

"Um, they um, they attacked in 2067"

"Right. And you think you know better than the textbook?"

"Yeah. I was there when it happened."

The teacher opened and shut her mouth while everyone in the class turned to stare at James, making him feel even more alienated than before. He looked down at his notes, feeling eyes boring into the back of his skull, everyone staring at him like some sort of freak.

Then Chris spoke up, thankfully averting the attention away from James and to himself.

"I think what James meant to say was that you're a twat and he's not."

Something like relief flitted across the teachers face before she rearranged her features into outrage, "EXCUSE ME?"

Chris calmly waved a hand at the teacher, "You're a twat," and followed the swooping movement, like a small low flying bird – really had to get the sparrow analogy for Chris's hands out of his head before he said something stupid - to gesture at James "and he, is not."

Chris walked out with a months worth of detention.

"You didn't have to do that"

"You know, most people here say thanks and just get over it." Ned piped up, before waving and heading off in another direction.

They came to a pause in the hallway, having to separate for their different classes when Chris looked at James with something other than a joke on his face for once. Concern?

"Were you actually there? For the attacks?"

James nodded, and Chris's eyebrows slid down his face in a weird little v before he stepped forward and enveloped James in a hug, muttering something about 'those bastards' but James was so surprised all he could focus on was how warm Chris was and how tight he held on for someone so tiny.

"GET A ROOM!"

"Faggot!"

Chris let go to call back at the comments and James had to stop himself from reaching forward to pull him back. Instead he stuck his hands down his pockets and looked at the floor.

"Um, thanks. And get over it."

Chris's smile was blinding.


	3. Chapter 3

James hadn't meant to do it. Really. He'd just been getting his books out of his locker when he overheard their voices and couldn't help but go around he corner to find a semi circle of kids, some cheering and some silent, all of them watching the spectacle that was Chris pressed up against a wall, three guys holding him up and another stepping back to throw a punch, and suddenly keeping a low profile wasn't a problem anymore because he'd thrown the asshole halfway across the room and everyone was staring at him like he was some terrifying monster from the deep, which was so ridiculous compared to what the other _native _had been doing to one of it's own just because he liked to kiss boys.

Which was how James found himself lying on the bottom bunk – the only kid in the entire school without a roommate, the assholes in charge probably scared he'd beat them up in their sleep (a well placed fear after the days events) – and staring at the slats of the bed above him, wishing he'd done more than just dislocate the assholes jaw and lay down a couple of bruises.

There was a knock on his door, and without waiting for a response Chris walked in and sat down on the bunk facing away from James, hiding the side of his face that James had been too late to help.

"You really shouldn't have done that. You'll jeapordise your scholarship."

"Don't care."

Of course, James did care, had spent the afternoon terrified that they were going to kick him out and he'd have to go home just in time to disappoint his parents, but after some _hmmms _and _we do not tolerate this kind of behaviour _they gave him a weeks worth of detentions because, and the realisation dawned on James the second he saw his face on the schools pamphlet, he made them look like a multicultural and accepting school. Which of course they weren't. And suddenly James found himself with the freedom to do almost whatever the hell he liked, as they wouldn't want to lose face in the community of wealthy parents who wanted to look sophisticated and caring but were just as racist as their kids.

Chris fiddled with his watch, tentatively quiet like he was unsure of himself, and James suddenly found himself speaking however the hell he wanted because, fuck it, no one was going to get rid of him and he could do and say whatever the fuck he liked.

"You know, most people just say thanks and get over it."

The Corner of Chris's mouth tugged upwards slightly.

"I'm a bad influence on you."

James snorted. Right. But then Chris was frowning again, leaning back on his hands and staring at the wall in front of him.

"You shouldn't have intervened."

A beat.

"Are you kidding? They would've beaten the shit out of you!"

Chris shrugged, like it was no big deal, like it had happened before, like 3 against 1 was a normal occurrence on earth and James still didn't know the customs, was foolish for not doing the research, and the shrug turned into the shaking of a head.

"No, that's not what I meant. I meant why'd you do it?"

James swallowed and turned his face back to the ceiling, trying to hide his flush.

"You're my friend. That's what friends do."

Then out of nowhere a hand slapped him across the face and he didn't have to worry the his cheeks probably looked red because it was a fucking hard hit.

"What the fuck!"

But Chris was laughing then "That's what friends do!" and James reached across angrily to grab him around the middle and pull him down onto the mattress, until he stopped suddenly realising what he was doing, and Chris stopped too, eyelids getting heavy and before James knew it Chris was leaning down, closing the gap between their mouths and bringing them together as if he'd done it a hundred times, as if this wasn't the sweetest and most terrifying thing to have ever happened to James and it was just another soft mouth pressing against his own warmly, gently, before it was suddenly gone and Chris was backing off apologetic.

"Sorry, I... didn't mean to do that. I guess I'm feeling a bit weirder than I thought. Been watching too many of Ned's romance films." Chris laughed nervously, quietly, pushing off of James and moving away from him. James just lay there, not quite believing what just happened and trying not to pinch himself to see if he would wake up.

"James?"

James turned to look at Chris, blinking stupidly, and the latter burst out laughing.

"What?"

"Your face is – gasp – hilarious! Ha!"

James grimaced, squeezing his eyes shut and wishing he face wasn't burning, pretending he couldn't hear Chris's laughter slowing down to nothing and trying not to jump when his voice was suddenly next to his ear, breath pleasantly warm.

"Thankyou."

James kept his eyes shut because he wasn't there he wasn't there he was. not. there. But however not present was, Chris definitely was, and he was pulling James up by the arm and arranging himself on the bed to lay out some cards to teach James another one of those annoying games he didn't understand. Chris poked him on the knee.

"Move up, I'm teaching you how to play snap," and when James did sit up properly and Chris caught his eye; "And get over it."  
Surreptitiously, James pinched himself. He was most definitely awake.


	4. Chapter 4

-flashforward-

"Why? Why not?"

"They all died! Every single one of them, they all died. I can't let that happen to you because I can't do that to myself."

"That makes no fucking sense"

"Don't you remember when your parents died? Did that make any fucking sense?"

James balked, and Chris kept going

"Of course not, none of this makes sense and I will not ever, never watch you die!"

Chris was breathing heavily, in between sentences and James saw the weak spot and pounced, desperate for a way in.

"I love you!"  
Chris froze, eyes gone wide and looking terrified.

"What?"

"I love you. I'm in love with you. I am in love with you and you are being an idiot."

"Encke, I -"

For what was not the first, and probably not the last time in his life James spoke before he thought.

"No, shut up for a second. I'm in love with you, and one day, I know, the stars will turn their backs on us and it sucks, sucks, sucks that we have to love something that's inevitably going to shake hands with death, especially on this, this fucking mission, but _I am in love with you_."

Chris looked at James sadly, shaking his head.

"Chris, _please._"

"I'm sorry. I can't."

"Chris, this isn't you."

Keeler hesitated, then closed the gap between them, leaning up to kiss the bottom of James's jaw.

"It's Keeler."

With that he walked away, and everything in Encke's inside was suddenly making a pretty good argument for trying to get on the outside.

A/N – dundundunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn, guess a little snippet of further on in the story (it's still alive!)


End file.
